A nice Fri. will be followed by a strong cold front Fri. night-Sat. morning that will usher in some of the coldest air of the winter so far which won't be all that difficult to do given the mild winter we've had. Temps. Sat. night might not realize their fullest potential due to a brisk wind that will blow most of the night. But the wind will cause wind chills to dive into the 20s. Temps. should still fall below freezing near & west of Highway 301 early Sun. A widespread frost/freeze will follow early Mon. with only the intracoastal & beaches staying above freezing. The cold won't last long as we'll quickly warm early next week as our roller coaster temp. ride sends temps. back into the 70s Tue.
Our more active U.S. weather pattern will probably continue for at least the rest of this month. The pattern can be traced to an active Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The MJO is essentially a large/broad tropical disturbance that propagates eastward around the global tropics. Heavy precipitation often correlates with an active MJO as a broad trough often becomes situated over the Western U.S. Click here for more info. & maps from the Climate Prediction Center.
A California senator has introduced legislation that would impose a carbon tax as a way to lower emissions linked to global warming. It seems there is not enough broad support to pass the legislation at this point. Several words of caution:
(1) climate change does not necessarily mean global warming
(2) a carbon tax would likely be a major burden for consumers
(3) the weather is always going to be wild. "Normal" is derived from an average of many extremes. "Historical" storms go back as far as reliable records -- the 1700s -- & there are writings from world explorers that document huge storms & weather swings back to at least the 1400s.
President Obama has made it clear he would like to address climate change during his last term. Click here for more info. on the legislation from USA Today.
As I'm leaving the office Thu. night, word of at least 1 - & possibly multiple -- meteorites striking the ground in Russia. Click here for info., fascinating video & photos. Very preliminary reports indicated damage & possible injuries.
